Monthly Archives: March 2012

Quantum Biology and the Puzzle of Coherence

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One of the more exciting discoveries in biology in the last few years is the role that quantum effects seem to play in many living systems.

The two most famous examples are in bird navigation, where the quantum zeno effect seems to help determine the direction of the Earth's magnetic field, and inphotosynthesis, where the way energy passes across giant protein matrices seems to depend on long-lasting quantum coherence.

Despite the growing evidence in these cases, many physicists are uneasy, however. The problem is the issue of decoherence, how quickly quantum states can survive before they are overwhelmed by the hot, wet environment inside living things.

According to conventional quantum calculations, these states should decay in the blink of an eye, so fast that they should not be able to play any role in biology.

That's led many physicists to assume something is wrong: either the measurements are faulty in some way or there is some undiscovered mechanism that prevents decoherence.

Today, Gabor Vattay and Stuart Kauman at the University of Vermont in the US and Samuli Niiranen at the Tampere Institute of Technology in Finland say its the latter.

These guys have worked out that in certain special circumstances, quantum systems can remain coherent over much greater timescales and distances than conventional quantum thinking gives credit for. And they argue that biology exploits this process in a way that explains the recent observations from quantum biologists.

Their discussion focuses on the weird phenomenon, even by quantum standards, of quantum chaos, in which small changes to a quantum system can have a huge influence on its evolution, just as in classical chaotic systems.

When a systems changes from being merely quantum to being quantum chaotic, it passes through a kind of phase transition. The new thinking focuses on this transition.

Physicists have known for many years that when a system is finely balanced between two phases, all kinds of strange behaviour can occur. For example, water changes from a gas to a liquid to a solid at certain temperatures and pressures. These states all have well defined properties.

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Quantum Biology and the Puzzle of Coherence

University associate research scientist arrested with root beer flavored vodka in front seat (w/Documents)

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A University associate research scientist in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology was arrested Saturday night and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, failure to maintain lane and open container, according to an Athens-Clarke County police report.

Irina Kataeva, 55, was pulled over by an officer on West Broad Street after he noticed her vehicle cross into the left lane and go across the fog line, according to the report.

Kataeva reportedly told the officer she had difficulty seeing at night, and the officer then noticed her eyes were extremely red and watery and there was the smell of alcohol on her breath.

The officer then asked her how much she had to drink, and she said she had one beer, according to the report.

While the officer was speaking to Kataeva, another officer noticed an open container of alcohol in the passenger seat.

When she exited the car, the officer noticed she was swaying when she walked and asked her if she had any alcohol in the car.

Kataeva reportedly said she did not have any alcohol in the vehicle. But when the officer asked to search her car, she said she did mind and had a bottle of liquor in the front seat.

An officer recovered an opened bottle of root beer flavored vodka from the car, according to the report.

Kataeva declined to perform field sobriety tests, and she reportedly asked the officer to just let her go and told him she was not far away from her house.

Her breath tested positive for alcohol, and she was placed under arrest and taken to the ACC Police Substation on Baxter Street, according to the report.

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University associate research scientist arrested with root beer flavored vodka in front seat (w/Documents)

Generex to Meet with FDA about AE37 HER2 Peptide Vaccine; Companion Dx Path Still Unclear

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By Turna Ray

Based on promising Phase II results, Generex Biotechnology is planning to meet with the US Food and Drug Administration about its investigational cancer immunotherapy for breast patients who have tumors that express low to intermediate levels of the HER2 protein, the company said this week.

Generex's HER-2/neu peptide vaccine, called AE37, is being developed as an adjuvant therapy for the 50 percent of breast cancer patients who express low to intermediate levels of HER2, and as a result, don't have HER2 expression levels high enough to be eligible for Roche/Genentech's Herceptin, according to the company.

However, although the AE37 immunotherapeutic is for a molecularly defined patient population, Generex is not currently planning to develop the drug with a new companion diagnostic to gauge HER2 expression in the intent-to-treat patient population.

"At the moment we are not working to set up a separate diagnostic test" for AE37, Eric von Hofe, CEO of Generex subsidiary Antigen Express, told PGx Reporter. AE37 is the first product Generex is developing using Antigen Express's Ii-Key Hybrid technology platform.

"There is currently the Dako HercepTest that can be used for scoring tumor tissue HER2 1+, 2+ or 3+; with low to intermediate expressing tissue being 1+ or 2+," Von Hofe said. "There are other tests, as well, that are available that claim to be more quantitative."

Patients who end up receiving AE37 will likely be those who were initially being considered for Herceptin treatment and, as such, were already tested with one of several FDA-cleared HER2 tests and found to have low to intermediate HER2 expression. This may be one reason why Generex expects it will not have to develop a companion test for its product.

The FDA has indicated that when a drug requires the aid of a molecular diagnostic to determine which patients should receive it, the test, in most cases, must be approved by the agency. "An IVD companion diagnostic device is an in vitro diagnostic device that provides information that is essential for the safe and effective use of a corresponding therapeutic product," the FDA states in its draft companion diagnostics guidance, released last year.

The FDA-approved labeling for HercepTest notes that it is indicated "as an aid in the assessment of patients for whom Herceptin treatment is being considered." Given the rationale for how a breast cancer patient might become eligible to receive AE37, it is unclear whether the agency will require a separate FDA-cleared companion diagnostic to market the drug for a subset of the HER2 population.

Meanwhile, Dako and other firms marketing FDA-cleared HER2 tests that are supporting an additional indication for Herceptin or that are intended to be used with a new HER2-targeted therapy have had to seek approval for their tests in these new settings (PGx Reporter 6/2/2010; 2/8/2012).

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Generex to Meet with FDA about AE37 HER2 Peptide Vaccine; Companion Dx Path Still Unclear

Mark Mandlebaum Interview – Neurology at Blue Ridge HealthCare.mp4 – Video

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01-03-2012 08:57 http://www.blueridgehealth.org - Neurologist Mark Mandlebaum, MD discusses neurology services available at Blue Ridge Neurology. He treats migraine headaches, epilepsy, stroke, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, neuropathy, and more. He hopes to bring a high level of care to Burke County and Morganton, NC, along with his partner Kadry Allaboun, MD. They are conveniently located in Morganton on the Blue Ridge HealthCare Grace Hospital campus.

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Omega-3 rich diet could protect against brain aging: Study

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High intake of the omega-3 fatty acids docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) could help protect the aging brain, according to research.

The new data published in Neurology suggests that a diet lacking in omega-3 fatty acids could cause the brain to age faster and lose some of its memory and thinking abilities. The researchers, led by scientists at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA),USA, revealed that middle-aged and elderly adults who regularly consume foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids could slow the mental decline that leads to dementia noting that those with the highest blood levels of DHA and EPA were more likely to perform well on tests of mental functioning and to experience less age-related brain shrinkage.

The authors said that whilst previous research linking dementia risk with the omega-3 fatty acids had looked at in blood plasma, which reflects how much people had eaten in the past few days, their current work estimated the amount of omega-3 participants had consumed over the last few months by looking at how much had built up in red blood cells.

"People with lower blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids had lower brain volumes that were equivalent to about two years of structural brain aging," explained study author Dr Zaldy Tan of UCLA.

In particular, Tan and his colleagues concluded that low DHA levels in red blood cells are associated with smaller brain volumes and a vascular pattern of cognitive impairment even in persons free of clinical dementia.

Study details

In the new study, over 1,500 dementia free participants with an average age of 67 underwent MRI brain scans. The group were also tested to measure mental function, body mass, and the omega-3 fatty acid level in their red blood cells was sampled.

Tan and his colleagues found that people with DHA levels in the lowest 25% of the participants (the bottom quartile) had lower brain volume compared to people who had higher DHA levels. They said that the brain volume was enough to make people in the bottom quartiles brains appear two years older than those of people in the top three-quarters.

The researchers added that participants with levels of all omega-3 fatty acids in the bottom quartile also scored lower on tests of visual memory and executive function, such as problem solving and multi-tasking and abstract thinking.

Brain scans also showed signs of less blood supply in the brains of people with the lowest omega-3 levels. Tan suggested that this may mean DHA plays a role in promoting general health of blood vessels in the brain in a similar way to how the omega-3s are suggested to be aid heart health.

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Omega-3 rich diet could protect against brain aging: Study

Physicians Order Costly, Redundant Neuroimaging for Stroke Patients, Study Says

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Newswise Neuroimaging for stroke patients may be unnecessarily costly and redundant, contributing to rising costs nationwide for stroke care, according to University of Michigan research.

The research, published in the Annals of Neurology, found that 95 percent of stroke patients who received magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) also had a computed tomography (CT) scan.

Compared to CT, MRI is a more accurate test for stroke, says James F. Burke, M.D., lead author of the study and a clinical lecturer in the University of Michigan Medical Schools Department of Neurology. But our results showed that MRI is not replacing CT as the primary stroke neuroimaging study instead, patients are getting both.

Minimizing the use of multiple studies could be a viable strategy to reduce costs.

The costs of inpatient stroke care have climbed by 42 percent between 1997 and 2007, an increase of $3,800 per case, Burke and his University of Michigan found. Neuroimaging MRIs and CTs were the largest driver of costs.

Diagnostic imaging has been the fastest growing component of total hospital costs, increasing 213 percent from 1999 to 2007.

The data shows that neuroimaging practices in stroke are neither standardized or efficient, Burke says. This represents an area where we have an opportunity to substantially reduce the cost of care without adversely effecting the quality of care.

Burkes research spurred an accompanying editorial in the Annals, written by editors S. Clairborne Johnson, M.D., Ph.D. and Stephen L. Hauser, M.D.

The issue of duplicative imaging in stroke is just one example of wasteful care, the editors wrote. Quite simply, it is very easy to order more test and to treat with more expensive therapies

We should track waste as another measure of quality care The failure to find a political solution to rising healthcare costs only increases our responsibility to become leaders and not victims.

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Physicians Order Costly, Redundant Neuroimaging for Stroke Patients, Study Says

Expert stresses key role of nanotechnology

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A technical seminar on nanotechnology and its industrial applications was held by the Qatar chapter of the Institution of Engineers (India) at the Doha Grand Hotel. Narendra Kumar Agnihotra, who has specialised in nano-science and interfacial engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, was the chief guest. In his presentation, Agnihotra deliberated on the evolution of nanotechnology and various milestones achieved by the scientific research community in this field in the 20th and 21st centuries. He spoke on various opportunities for new phenomena, new materials and new science offered by nanotechnology. The speaker stressed nanotechnology could lead to a new industrial revolution, through its wide application in engineering, materials as well as biology. Animesh Sarkar, chairman, Qatar chapter, welcomed the gathering and later gave away a plaque of appreciation to the guest speaker. Debashis Roy gave away the IEI memento of appreciation to the speaker. Abdul Sathar compeered and conducted the proceedings while Dipak Dahake proposed a vote of thanks.

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Expert stresses key role of nanotechnology

China 'soaring ahead' in nanotechnology research

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China has become a nanotechnology powerhouse

Flickr/Novartis AG

[NEW DELHI] China has emerged as a major nanotechnology player, but India is still working to catch up and both countries have some ground to cover before they can hope to dominate the world of journals and citations, according to a paper in the February issue of Scientometrics.

The study, led by Sujit Bhattacharya at the National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies in New Delhi (NISTADS), measured progress made by China and India in nanotechnology research using four indicators publications, patents, standards, and the processes and products that have emerged as a result of research.

China's share of published nanotechnology papers soared from less than 10 per cent of the global total in 2000, to nearly a quarter by 2009 overtaking the United States. By contrast, India was occupying seventh place.

However, neither was well-represented in the top three nanotechnology research journals, and although Chinese representation in high-quality journals was rising, its researchers were well behind the European Union and the United States in attracting citations.

In terms of patent applications received, China was second to only the US, and accounted for a fifth of international patenting activity. By contrast, India represented just four per cent of such activity.

In April 2005, China issued national standards for nanotechnology and set up material specification standards. It also created committees to oversee technical standards and health, safety and environment institutions, the paper found.

Research in China has been more "sophisticated" than India, the study said, focusing on nano-materials and their applications. Indian research, the paper says, "shows a healthy trend towards addressing developmental problems" such as nanotechnology-based water solutions, drug delivery and the environment although the authors noted that this is a preliminary assessment.

Bhattacharya told SciDev.Net that although India appears to be lagging, it overtook many advanced countries to achieve its 7th place global ranking.

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China 'soaring ahead' in nanotechnology research

Research and Markets: Nanotechnology – Global Outlook. A Must-Read Report With A Directory Featuring Over 700 …

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DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/7e1a44/nanotechnology_g) has announced the addition of the "Nanotechnology - Global Outlook" report to their offering.

The global outlook series on Nanotechnology provides a collection of statistical anecdotes, market briefs, and concise summaries of research findings. The report offers a bird's eye view of this new, promising, and pulsating, potential laden industry. The report provides a rudimentary insight into the concept of nanotechnology, providing selective insights into major technology trends, and its impact on commercial applications in key end-use industries. Also included is a compilation of recent mergers, acquisitions, and strategic corporate developments. Annotated with market data-rich tables enumerating key research findings, the global and regional level of discussion culminates to provide a macro-level perception of the industry in its totality.

Key regional markets briefly researched and abstracted include the US, Canada, Japan, Europe, France, Germany, Russia, UK, Asia, China, and Australia among few others. Also included is an indexed, easy-to-refer, fact-finder directory listing the addresses, and contact details of 758 companies worldwide.

Key Topics Covered:

For more information , including full table of contents, please visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/7e1a44/nanotechnology_g

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Medical school split a 'disaster'

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5 March 2012 Last updated at 14:36 ET

Doctors have called for a rethink of plans to split the Plymouth-based Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry (PCMD).

A letter from the Devon Local Medical Committee (DLMC) called the move by PCMD founders University of Exeter and Plymouth University a "disaster".

The plans would mean a medical and dental school at Plymouth and a medical school at Exeter.

PCMD, which opened in 2000, has 200 medical and 64 dentistry students.

The DLMC, which represents Devon GPs, said in a letter to Plymouth University Vice Chancellor Wendy Purcell that the announcement in January was a "momentous shock to all students and staff involved with the medical school across the peninsula".

It feared that the "excellent collaborative work" in research projects at the college would be disrupted.

It added that if a split was the only way forward, it was "essential" that medical student numbers were distributed fairly "to ensure two sustainable medical schools emerge".

The proposed dismantling of the Peninsula Medical School is a disaster to all those trying to provide top quality healthcare, education and research across the region

The letter said: "The NHS should be working together across the peninsula and the proposed dismantling of the Peninsula Medical School is a disaster to all those trying to provide top quality healthcare, education and research across the region."

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New medical school 'crucial' to Austin

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AUSTIN (KXAN) - What will Central Texas need in the next decade to offer world class healthcare for a growing population? Some say it will take a medical school and teaching hospital.

Sen. Kirk Watson is leading the effort to get one.

When Dr. TJ Milling visits Houston's Medical Center he can't help but think of what Austin could be.

"All those buildings, all that research, all that medical education going on and across the street is Rice University and it made me think about the Northeast corner of our downtown," said Milling, an emergency room physician.

That's why Milling and others are pushing for a medical school and teaching hospital to replace University Medical Center Brackenridge.

On Wednesday, March 7, KXAN will host a live town hall discussion called " ATXpansion : Healthcare in Central Texas. Community leaders will talk about the various issues we face in the coming years. It will take place from 7 p.m . to 8 p.m . at the Hill Country Bible Church - Northwest Campus in Cedar Park. Register here to attend free of charge.

"The truth is you need to have that infrastructure surrounding a medical center to draw the best and brightest positions to a community," he said.

According to officials at Seton, Texas ranks 42nd in the number of physicians per capita, and in 2016, Seton anticipates a shortage of 770 physicians in Central Texas.

The largest deficits will be in specialties like family practice, internal medicine, as well as infectious disease, pulmonology and rheumatology.

"Having a medical school here will enable us to provide more support personnel, more doctors, doctors tend to stay in the areas where they train," said Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell.

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Accreditation group finds erratic learning environment at Upstate medical school

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Syracuse, N.Y. -- When members of a national accreditation group visited Upstate Medical University in March last year to evaluate its medical school, they discovered some striking inconsistencies.

The Liaison Committee on Medical Education LCME for short learned the medical schools entire first-year class of students was participating in community service. But that positive impression was tarnished by the discovery the school was grappling with the fallout of a cheating scandal involving more than 100 members of the senior class.

The learning environment for SUNY Upstate in some ways is very strong and in other ways is an area of concern, the LCME says in a 192-page report that explains why it put the medical school on probation.

Upstate provided a copy of the report to The Post-Standard after the newspaper filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the document.

The report shows the committee found the school out of compliance with 15 accreditation standards. Upstate must fix the problems within two years to keep its accreditation so it can continue offering medical degrees.

The LCME recommended last fall that Upstate be put on probation. Upstate filed an appeal last month, rebutting nearly all of the committees findings. After reviewing the appeal, the committee rescinded its original findings of noncompliance on three standards, but affirmed its position on the other 15. It also affirmed its decision to put the school on probation.

The report says the medical schools curriculum is out of sync, student complaints often go ignored and the dean is a paper tiger. It also says complaints by graduating medical students of discrimination or mistreatment on the basis of gender, race/ethnicity or sexual orientation are being reported at above-average rates at Upstate.

Students interviewed during the survey repeated over and over that the most serious issue facing them and their school was the lack of central authority to address issues that were of concern to them, the report says. Faculty echoes those concerns as well.

One of the committees major criticisms is the schools lack of administrative oversight over curriculum and its inability to modify and coordinate courses.

The dean, who serves as the chief academic officer, does not have the explicit authority to ensure the implementation and management of the medical education program when modifications to the curriculum are determined to be necessary, the report says.

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Accreditation group finds erratic learning environment at Upstate medical school

Longevity HGH – Video

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Green designs show hope for future

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If you think "green design" can't be appealing, works by a group of English designers together with their Thai counterparts currently on display at the "Everything Forever Now" exhibition at TCDC will make you think again.

FROM LEFT

- Elderly on the Move by the Open Space group in Pathum Thani.

- Air Bike by EADS, a bike made of nylon.

- Plumen, an energysaving designer light bulb by Hulger.

The works, some 30 or so items, are a response of designers to the environmental crisis we are facing and they have proved that eco-design has gone beyond the "3R" concept _ reduce, reuse, recycle. Some of the designers, with concern for the increasing deficiency of resources like wood and fuels, go for something with longevity, not just resorting to alternative resources.

Pichit Virankabuta, TCDC event and exhibition director, said that "to live with the green" is the new trend to follow. Designers are challenging themselves with the most they can make out of something and the least it will impact on the world.

"The designs we chose to bring here, not only are they concerned for the environment, they are trying to present something new. They are fresh and inspiring. They are showing that eco can also be sexy," said Henrietta Thompson, the exhibition curator and the author of Remake It: Home a DIY design guide employing good design for a resourceful waste-free lifestyle.

The exhibition, a collaboration between the TCDC and the British Council, is divided into four different categories.

"Materials" features designs that search for new materials to replace deficient ones. For example, the Air Bike by EADS (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company), a bicycle made using a unique manufacturing process that literally grows a product from a fine powder of metal, nylon or carbon-reinforced plastics. The Air Bike is made using a process called additive layer manufacturing (ALM), which builds layers upon layers of nylon until it forms a 3D model.

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Green designs show hope for future

The key to brain health? Get moving, experts say

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Work out long enough and hard enough, and your body will change getting leaner and stronger. Now, theres growing evidence that exercise changes your brain, too in ways that researchers can actually see.

Thanks to advances in brain-imaging technology, new research is shedding light on how exercise not only affects but physically alters the brain making the mind sharper and more resistant to the effects of aging. And some of the most exciting work is under way in Dallas.

Read on for three ways that exercise affects your brain.

Better blood flow

Until now, medical experts werent sure whether exercise increased blood flow to the brain. To test that, a three-month study tracked a group of previously sedentary women, ages 60 or older, who walked briskly for 30 to 50 minutes three or four times per week. Researchers used Doppler ultrasonography to measure blood flow to the brain at the beginning and end of the three-month period and found that blood flow increased an average of 11 percent to 15 percent.

Bottom line: Whats good for your heart is also good for your brain. Exercise is medicine, said Rong Zhang, director of the Cerebrovascular Lab at the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine. When you increase blood flow, that increases the oxygen supply, glucose and other nutrients to the brain, and that makes your neurons happier.

SOURCE: Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine, Texas Health Presbyterian of Dallas, in conjunction with UT Southwestern Medical Center and the Center for Vital Longevity at UT Dallas

Improved memory

Researchers tracked a group of healthy adults, ages 55 to 75, who previously had been sedentary. After participants worked out for 60 minutes three times a week for 12 weeks, MRI scans compared changes in the brains of the exercisers with those of a control group that didnt exercise. The exercisers showed improved memory, caused by improved blood flow to the hippocampus, the part of the brain that controls memory.

Bottom line: Forget about miracle elixirs and quickie brain games. Physical exercise improves memory, says Sandra Chapman, founder and chief director of the Center for BrainHealth. It is one thing you can do to keep your brain healthier and help you think better.

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HGH renewal – Video

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The Search for Immortality

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Researchers may have found a protein that can extend the lifespan of mammals

During ancient times, alchemists sought the elixir of life; a legendary potion believed to bestow eternal life upon its drinker. Alchemy has since given way to modern-day chemistry, but the quest for eternal lifeor at least longer lifepersists. While science has proven that the secret to longevity is not a potion, research has suggested that a protein might hold the answer.

A study published in Nature Journal of Science details the latest research on aging proteins, called sirtuins. A team led by Haim Cohen, a molecular biologist at Bar-llan University in Ramat-Gan Israel, has found that increased levels of SIRT6, one of the seven sirtuin proteins, can extend the maximum lifespan of male mice by about 15.8 percent.

Earlier research on the link between sirtuins and longevity focused on another member of the protein family. Researchers theorized that SIRT1, a protein in mammals closely related to a gene that promotes longevity in yeast, could extend the lifespan of mammals.

In 2001, a study published in Nature Journal of Science reported that SIRT1 increased the longevity in nematodes and fruit flies. The interest in this research was so high that in 2008, GlaxoSmirthKline, a drug company in London, invested $720 million in research targeting SIRT1 as a potential treatment for type 2 diabetes.

Later research found the SIRT1 study to be incorrect. The increased longevity was not an effect of SIRT1 but a result of unrelated mutations in the studied species.

PROTEINS WITH POTENTIAL

The hype surrounding SIRT1 was just the encouragement Cohen needed to begin his study of SIRT6.

People were mostly interested in SIRT1, Cohen said in Nature Journal of Science. So I thought it might be better for us as a new lab to work on something that is less crowded.

Previous studies had demonstrated that the aging process in mice lacking SIRT6 was accelerated. Cohen and his team decided to study the effects of higher than normal levels of SIRT6 in mice. While their results showed no effect on the maximum lifespan of the female mice, the male mice experienced an increase by as much as 15.8 percent.

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The Search for Immortality

Will GOP View on Women Matter?

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Maybe the 2012 election season should be renamed "Biology 2012: Reintroduction to Basic Human Reproduction," with mandatory, nationwide enrollment. As we scuffle our way into Super Tuesday, with 419 Republican delegates at stake, it seems the political focus is on women, and not in the typically scandal-ridden way. The question is how it will affect GOP voters, particularly women.

Though Rush Limbaugh kind of apologized for calling Sandra Fluke a "slut," unclear is whether he included in his apology his very revealing and misinformed request that if the public was going to pay for her contraception, she should be required to post video of herself having sex online. Regardless, sponsor AOL joined seven other former sponsors in pulling advertising. As none of the candidates has condemned Limbaugh's spewage, will female Republicans still show up for them? More important, will they show up for them in November?

Of course the hullabaloo over access to contraception amid the seeming lack of understanding of how it works is not the only attack on women being waged by the right. A Wisconsin legislator has introduced a bill that would include "nonmarital parenthood" as a contributing factor to child abuse and neglect.

Start cutting out your scarlet letters, we'll need plenty. While the wording of the statute reads gender-neutralish, the aim is clear from the last line of the proposed language mandating: "Educational and public awareness materials and programming that emphasize nonmarital parenthood as a contributing factor to child abuse and neglect and the role of fathers in the primary prevention of child abuse and neglect."

So if the children resulting from "nonmartial parenthood" live with their fathers, is nonmartial parenthood no longer abusive? Even if the mother is not in the picture? What do you say about this one, GOP candidates? What's that I hear? Sounds a lot like crickets.

Back to our Biology 2012 course materials. If we decrease access to contraception, rates of "nonmarital parenthood" will increase. It's simple. And the GOP policy has laid the blame squarely on the doorstep of women, making conception a one-woman show.

There has been no name calling of the presumed sexual partners of the Georgetown women Limbaugh lambasted; they have not been mentioned in the discussion. So all these "immoral" women are having all this imagined sex seemingly considered in relishing detail, for which they shouldn't have contraception, and then therefore are having these "nonmarital" children with whom?

I suppose boys will be boys. If that wasn't the case, perhaps one of you might have raised this issue. Their silence only further demonstrates the need for Biology 2012, Lesson 1: It Takes Two to Form a Zygote.

The policies and viewpoints being espoused by Republicans are calculatedly, derogatorily and vehemently punitive of women for the mere basis of biology. Will Republican women care? Perhaps we'll find out Tuesday.

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Will GOP View on Women Matter?

ASF Grantee Rhonda Charles uses mouse models to examine social behaviors in autism – Video

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14-02-2012 14:36 Rhonda Charles is a 2010 ASF Grant Winner and a PhD Student in the Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine. Ms. Charles' work focuses on the AVPR1A gene, which affects social behavior and anxiety in autism spectrum disorder. Her ASF- funded study puts the human AVPR1A gene into a mouse model, a key step that must occur before we can introduce pharmacological treatments for individuals with autism affected by AVPR1A gene mutations.

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Chemistry Magic Show

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It's time to put the magic back into the classroom. For more than 16 years running, the Minot State University Science Department is hosting an open house tomorrow that will include biology and geology displays on all three floors or Cyril Moore Hall, and the most popular display, the annual chemistry magic show.

Around 800 students within a 100 mile radius bus in for a full day of science activity. Starting at 9 a.m., the forty minute magic show will run every hour on the hour with the final show starting at 3 p.m. While schools will take in the daytime displays, the science department would like to invite the public to the 3 p.m. magic show. There, you will witness chemical reactions that cause displays of light and sound that are most easily explained as magic.

(Guy Hanley, Minot State University Science Department) "We get students interested in science. They see things on YouTube that you probably shouldn't do in your garage that we are actually able to do here. So they get to see demonstrations first hand that they probably wouldn't be able to see."

Again, the chemistry magic show is at 3 p.m. on Tuesday at MSU's Cyril Moore Hall, room 16.

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Chemistry Magic Show